Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all continue to progress through the season of Lent, we are all presented with the call to repentance through the readings of our Sacred Scriptures today, which mentioned the story of the prophet Jonah in Nineveh, the great capital city of the Assyrians. We heard of the repentance of the city and its inhabitants, and how the Lord had mercy on all of them despite the judgment He had pronounced on them, and this was also mentioned again in the Gospels, as a reminder for each and every one of us on how we all should seek the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy because while our sins may indeed be plentiful and horrendous, but God’s love for us and His mercy surpass and transcend even all of those things.

During this time and season of Lent, we are reminded that God’s generous mercy and forgiveness are always available for us as long as we repent from our sinful ways and commit ourselves to change our wickedness, embracing His love and mercy, entrusting ourselves to Him, our loving Father and Creator. However, it is important that we remember, how this mercy and forgiveness require us to change our wicked and unworthy paths in life, embracing instead the righteous and just path of the Lord. We have to change our ways for the better, purifying our hearts and minds, our whole bodies and souls, our whole beings from all the corruption of the darkness of sin and evil. We are reminded not to squander this opportunity that God has given us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jonah as mentioned, the story of how Jonah had been sent to the people of Nineveh, the great capital of the Assyrian Empire. At that time, the Assyrian Empire was a truly mighty Empire that had dominated its neighbours, and they were infamous for being the conquerors who defeated and destroyed the kingdom of the people of God in the northern kingdom of Israel, and brought many of the people into exile. As such, at the time the sayings and the stories of the prophet Jonah was compiled during the Hellenistic period according to Biblical scholars, the Assyrians had gained the notoriety of having committed great sins against God, for their rather vicious and ruthless actions against those people whom they defeated, including that of the Israelites themselves.

That is why when the Lord warned the people of Nineveh of the impending destruction that they all would face for their many sins, it would have come to no surprise for many of those who were reading about the account of the Lord’s warning to those wicked people of Nineveh. Yet, what is even more amazing is the fact that how the people of Nineveh very readily responded to the words of Jonah, and from their king and nobles to the simple men on the streets, all of the whole city showed genuine repentance and regret for their many sins, publicly showing their repentance by wearing sackcloth and in mourning for their fate of destruction, seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness for their wicked deeds. God saw their sincere repentance and humility, and spared them all for the fated destruction that had been proclaimed against them.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus Who told the people that were listening to Him about the sign of Jonah in response to all those people who still refused to believe in Him and His truth. Those people were the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom have witnessed the many works, miracles and wonders of the Lord, and heard His words and teachings, and yet, they still constantly and consistently refused to believe in Him, doubting Him and questioning His authenticity and authority before the people, accusing Him of wrongdoing and evil deeds that He did not do. They kept on asking Him to perform signs and wonders before them, repeatedly even when the Lord had actually done exactly done before their very own eyes. And yet, they still refused to believe.

And that was why the Lord told the people that they would come to see the sign of Jonah, referring to the three days that the prophet Jonah spent in the belly of the great fish or whale, as a premonition of His own time of Passion, His suffering, persecution and death, which would lead to Him being buried in the tomb, in the ‘belly’ of the earth, descending into Hell for a period of three days from the time of His passing until His glorious Resurrection. This sign would be the ultimate sign of truth and salvation, and the revelation and fulfilment of everything that God had promised to all of His people. God wants all of His people, all of us, to know of His most wonderful love and mercy, the compassion and kindness which He has always generously provided to us throughout all these time. And through His Son, He has revealed to us this ever enduring love and kindness.

However, the sad truth and reality is such that, just like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the elders of the people, many of them still closed their hearts and minds to the Lord, refusing to believe in Him or accepting His truth. The Lord Jesus also mentioned in the same occasion as presented in the Gospel passage earlier that the Queen of the South has come to listen to the wisdom of King Solomon, highlighting how even a pagan and foreigner bothered to make the very arduous travel from faraway lands to come and listen to the wisdom of the renowned King Solomon, and then, comparing it to Himself and the Wisdom which He has shown, the Lord told the people and all those who resisted and rejected Him of the irony that in Him there is a Wisdom that far surpassed that of Solomon’s, as He is Himself the Wisdom of God personified and manifested in the flesh. And yet, His own people refused to believe in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore spend this precious time and opportunity of Lent to reorientate our lives once again towards the Lord, deepening our faith and trust in the Lord. We must not allow our pride, ego and stubbornness from distracting and swaying us away from the path towards the Lord, as how those Pharisees and teachers of the Law had allowed themselves to be tempted and distracted by their own pride and ego which made them to harden their hearts and minds, not allowing the Lord to speak or communicate His love and truth to them. Let us all remember all the love and mercy which God has for us, and do our best to open our hearts and minds, communicating our thoughts to Him through prayer, spending more good and quality time with Him, our loving Father and Creator.

May all of us continue to draw ever closer to God and grow more aware of our sins and wickedness, all of which had prevented us from coming back towards our Lord’s loving embrace and Presence. Let us all make good use of this time and the opportunities we have been given this Lent so that we will not regret it when we have to give account of our lives before the Lord at the Last Judgment. May God be with us always and may He bless us in our every good works, efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory. Amen.